Attachment of top lifts to wood heels



Nov. 18, 1930. D. J. SULLIVAN ATTACHMENT OF TOP LIFTS TO WOOD HEELSFiled May 28 'l927 Fig. 2.

I UNITED DENNIS J. S LLIVAN, or LYNN, MASSACHIEFSETTSQASSIGNOR Tynivrrnnsnon Ml: ennmny conrona'rrou, onrn'rnnson, i1 \l'-EW-JERSEY,IACQRPOBATIION" or N W,

Patented Nov. 18, 1930- JERSEY .A AcnniEN'r or cr ping To WOOD HEELS wea Application filed May 2 8, 1927 Serial no. 194,986.

This'invention relates to improvements in the attachment of top lifts towood'heels and to improved wood heels. 7 f In attempting to attach -toplifts to wood heels by rows of slugs or other fastenings 1nsertedthrough the top lifts parallel to and near the edges of the top liftsand heels dif ficulty hasYbeen experienced by reason of the tendency oftheheels to split adjacent to their breast corners. The grain of thewood of wood heels runs lengthwise of the heels and when 'a row offastenings is insertedparallel to the edge of the top lift 7 and spaced0f an inch or so frornthe edge of the'top lift with the fasteningsg orof aninch apart the strain put upon.

the wood is often more than it can stand, particularly in the case ofhigh heels having small top lifts. For this reason heretofore, in orderto obviate the losses due to excessive splitting of heels, the moreusual practice has been to rely upon fastenings inserted a considerabledistance from the edge of the heel to hold the top lift in place, theslugs, if any there be, being driven into the top lift but not anysubstantial distance into the wood of the heel.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method ofattaching top lifts to wood heels whichrwill eliminate the danger ofsplitting the heel even though a row of closely spacedfastening bedriven through v the top lift into the wood heel close to the edge ofthe top lift and heel. I have dis: covered that if holes for thereception of the fastenings are made with an awl having a V-shaped orchisel point positioned with the the heel adjacent to the breast cornersof the heel is practically eliminated. In the case of wood heels havingleather top lifts, more-' over, the passage of the chisel point of theawl through the leather top lift is effective to force the fibre of theleather of the top lift below the surface of the '-wood of the heel,depressions into which the fibre of the leather :isldfagged being formedat oPl?osite sides of the holes. This prevents the top lifts fromworking on the heel, and pro-V VIClQS- an unusually secure attachmentfor the toplift. v V I 1 In another aspect this invention comprises awood heel having a leather top lift attached thereto by fastenings, forexample paper pegs, inserted through thestop lift into the heelwith thefibre of theleather' adjacent to the fastenings forced downwardly belowthe surface of the Wood of the-heel, and thereby preventing the top liftfrom working'upon the heel and eventually becoming loose."

Fig.1 isa perspective view on an enlarged scale, partly broken away andpartly-in sec-- tion, illustrating the attachment of atop lift to a woodheel in accordance with the present invention; 1 1 V r Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of the operating instrumentalities of a fastening'insertingthe invention; 1 v V Fig. 3 1s a s1de elevation on the same scalemachine which may be utilized inpracticing,

as Fig, of an awlhaving a so-called chisel :polnt whlch may be usedinpracticing the. invention; I Y a Fig. l is a vertical sectiontaken onthe line IV'IV of Fig.1."

. The wood heel of Fig. 1 is vprovided with covering .12 of any suitablematerial, for exampleleather or celluloid, and a top lift :14illustrated as of leather. In attaching the top lift to the heel inaccordance with my invention, the heel with the top lift held inposition, for example manually, may be placed the-usual. woodenbodyinember 10having a upon the work-support .16 ofafastening inwhine(which, ,as illustrated,,is of the well- W v 65 WVit-h the'ab'ove andother objects in view 1 sertinga-machi'neofknown type provided with {via presser plate 18, a gage. 20, awork penetrat- I in Figs. 1 and 2, andthus extendingtrans versely of the grain of the wood when oper ating inthe vicinity of the breast cornersof' the heel, Thus the edge of thechisel point 32 of the awl will engage'the top lift along such a lineas-is indicatedat ge in 1. 1 r The use of an awl having a chisel pointof this character not only substantially eliminates the splitting ofwood heels, but also servesto force thefibre of a leather top lift downbelow the surface of the wood of the heel at opposite'sides of thefastening 30 as illustrated at 36in Fig. 4:. This action is accomplishedby means of the inclined surfaces 38 and 4:0 on opposite sides of thechisel point 32'of the awl, and does not take place, at

'least to. any substantial extent, as viewed upon planes defined by theaxis and the edge of the chisel point of the awl. This forcing of thefibre of the-leather top lift down below the surface of the wood of theheel makes a much more secure attachment than would otherwise beprovided, locking the fastenings in the wood and preventing the top liftfrom working on the wheel when the shoe to which the heel is attached isworn.

Having thus described my invention, vwhat I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. That improvement in methods of attaching top lifts to wood heelswhich comprises holding a top lift and a wood heel in assembledrelation, making holes through the top lift into the wood of the heelwith an awl having a'chisel point positioned with its edge extending ina direction substantially normal to the edge of the heel, and insertingfastenings in the holes thus formed.

2. That improvement in methods of attaching top lifts to wood heelswhich comprises making holes through a leather top lift into a wood heelwith an awl having a chisel point positioned with its edge substantially normal to the edge of the heel and thereby forcing the fibre ofthe leather of the with an-awl having a chisel point, with the edgeof'the chisel point of the awl extending transversely of the grain ofthe wood-'ofthe heel, and inserting-fastenings in the holes thus formed..a I a v '5; That improvement in methods of attaching leather top liftsto woodheels' by paper pegs inserted through thetop lifts into the heelscharacterized by forcing the, fibre of the leather adjacent to the paperpegs downwardlyrbelow the surface of the wood of the heel-at oppositesides'of the pegs.

6. A wood heel having a leather top lift attached thereto by paper pegsinserted through the top liftinto the heel, the fibre of the leatheradjacent to the pegs being forced downwardly below the surface of thewood of the heelat opposite sides of the pegs.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.- I

DENNIS J. SULLIVAN.)

top lift below the surface of 'the'wood of the heel at opposite sidesof'the holes, and inserting fastenings inthe holes thus formed.

3. That improvement in methods of attaching top lifts towood heels whichcomprises making holes through a top lift into a heel with an awl havinga point substantially V- shaped in cross-section positioned with its

